According to the Metro, Barcelona legend and current sporting director Eric Abidal has told Sport that the Blaugrana didn’t attempt to sign Bruno Fernandes before the playmaker’s move to Manchester United.
Abidal claimed that the La Liga champions ‘were not interested at all’ in signing the 25-year-old from Sporting Lisbon.
The retired full-back does hint that Barcelona were approached about a potential move for Fernandes by the Portugal international’s agents though.
Reports suggested that the Catalan giants entered the race for the midfielder’s signature after a potential switch to United seemed to stall.
Fortunately, the Red Devils managed to make a breakthrough in negotiations and sealed Fernandes’ signature in the latter stages of the January transfer window.
Here’s what Abidal had to say on rumours linking Barcelona with Fernandes:
‘He is an interesting player, but the agents try to do their job,’
‘We did not have that need.’
‘They sell you the product, but we were not interested at all. Rodrigo really interested us.’
According to the Times (subscription required), the cost of United’s move for Fernandes could rise to a total of €80m (£66.7m).
Fernandes managed to contribute a staggering 15 goals and 14 assists from 28 appearances for Sporting across all competitions before sealing his mid-season move to Manchester.
The attacking midfielder’s debut performance for the Red Devils looked encouraging, Fernandes will have the chance to shine in next Monday’s clash against rivals Chelsea.
Do you think Barcelona made a mistake in turning down the chance to explore the signing of Fernandes?
